ESPN Pulls Song After Hitler Analogy

Posted on Oct 4, 2011

A song by country singer Hank Williams Jr. was pulled from the opening of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” broadcast after he used an analogy to Adolf Hitler in comments about President Barack Obama.

During an interview on Fox News on Monday morning, Williams said that he was surprised House Speaker John Boehner agreed to play golf with Obama. “It’d be like Hitler playing golf with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu,” he said, unprompted.

ESPN released a statement shortly after Williams’ interview aired that said, “We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull [Williams’ opening song] from tonight’s telecast.” —BF

The Associated Press in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Williams released a statement through his publicist, saying: “Some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood. My analogy was extreme — but it was to make a point. I was simply trying to explain how stupid it seemed to me — how ludicrous that pairing was. They’re polar opposites and it made no sense. They don’t see eye-to-eye and never will. I have always respected the office of the president.”

ESPN did not say whether the intro, synonymous with “Monday Night Football” since 1989, would be used again after this week’s Colts- Buccaneers game.